GALESBURG, Ill. (Duhawks.com) – The Loras Track & Field program opened their outdoor season on Saturday at the Knox Outdoor Open. In the team standings, the men took home the title for the second straight year while the women took second.

The women had numerous top-five finishes plus individual victories from senior Emily Sotelo in the 400m hurdles running a time of 1:09.13 and sophomore Amy Gladis whose height of 2.74m in the pole vault was good enough to take the title.

Top-five finishes on the track came from sophomore Alexis Hanson in the 400m running a 59.22 (second place) and senior Amanda Elsen who ran 5:30.56 in the 1500m (third place). Two top-five finishes in the 100m hurdles came from freshman Devin Hasson who ran 16.74 (second place) and senior Emily Ruhser who finished in 17.84 (fifth place).

Hasson also ran 1:10.51 in the 400m hurdles finishing in second behind Sotelo. The women's 4x400 team of Hanson, Sotelo, freshman Emily Ney, and sophomore Katie Swoboda took the crown with a time of 4:16.50.

In the field, there were a plethora of top-five finishes turned in by the Duhawks. Hasson finished second in the high jump with a mark of 1.35m and sophomore Amelia Acompanado finished second in the long jump with a distance of 5.09m. Senior Morgan Steere had three top five finishes in the shot put with a throw of 12.77m (second place), discus with a distance of 34.84m (second place) and hammer throw with a distance of 42.92m (fourth place).

On the men's side individual victories came from junior Stedman Foster in the 400m with a time of 49.9 and fellow junior Zach Frey in the 800m with a time of 1:56.04. Field victories came from junior Keontae Neely in the triple jump with a distance of 12.79m and senior Nathan Maiers in the hammer throw with a distance of 48.97m.

Loras once again posted numerous top-five finishes included senior Zac Gassman in the 200m, who finished with a time of 23.02. Senior Josh Goerdt took second in the 400m with a time of 49.97 and sophomore Brandon Gradoville finished fourth in the 400m with a time of 50.96.

The 800 was dominated by Loras with four out of five top five finishers representing the purple and gold. Frey took the victory with sophomore Time Wittman running 1:58.47 (second place), senior Adam Varnas who ran 1:59.24 (third place), and freshman Kylian Lally running 2:00.15 (fifth place).

Other top fives on the track were freshman Timothy Sevcik in the 5k with a time of 15:30.80 (second place) and freshman Andrew O'Neill in the 110m hurdles with a time of 16.49 (fifth place). The men's 4x400 relay team of Gradoville, Gassman, Foster, and senior Kyle Ward won in a time of 3:21.90.

In the field, top fives were turned in by juniors Greg Cox and Dan Vatch in the high jump both clearing a height of 1.80m (fourth and fifth place), while freshman Hunter Dunlap took fifth in the pole vault with a height of 3.66m.

Senior Jordan Burkholder posted a second place finish in the discus with a throwing distance of 44.48m. In addition to his triple jump victory, Neely jumped 6.35m in the long jump to take third. In the javelin, juniors Evan Rossing, Jake Brock, and Cox threw distances of 50.63m, 46.88m, and 43.45m respectively to finish third, fourth, and fifth place.

The Duhawks will have a quick turnaround as they head to Pella, Iowa on Thursday to compete at the Central College Open.